Healthcare Management

 Healthcare Management

Question One

Managing the patient account fund requires the use of specialized software that keeps track of each patient’s health records and their fund payments. Managers can access the software and update any changes while monitoring progress and avoiding misallocation or mistakes (Glouberman, 2014). Protocols usable in such scenarios include the weekly update of information, management meetings with staff and liaising with patient partners and insurance companies to maintain up-to-date records. This activity would require a manager who is conversant with healthcare management practices and experienced in software related to the matter.

Question Two

Article used: https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-health-care-highest-costs-not-highest-results-1485369534

This Wall Street Journal article investigates the interesting relationship between healthcare financing matter in the United States and life expectancy. According to research and observations, Americans seem to be paying highly for health care but it does not translate to long life spans (Crook & Brynildsen, 2017). Additionally, the article discusses the rationale behind lawmakers pushing for such expensive healthcare systems if they cannot support high life expectancies.

Part One: How does this article tie in with your research to date?

The article discusses a matter that ties in perfectly with research based on the management of patient account funds. While the United States citizenry pay highly for its healthcare, the fees do no translate to high life expectancy. One reason for such could be mismanagement of the funds generated by the high costs paid by beneficiaries (O’Rourke, 2003). Therefore, the article is connected to research in terms of the management of healthcare funds generated by beneficiaries.

Part Two: How can the average long-term care manager use this information in day-to-day decision-making?

The average long-term care manager could use this information to augment their healthcare fund management strategy in order to make it more effective. The article highlighted an important issue in healthcare management that matters even more for long-term healthcare givers and the manager could use to optimize his establishment.

Part Three: What is the take home message?

The take-home message from the article is that healthcare givers must strive to align their high fees with optimum services that not only improve their beneficiaries’ lives but also extends their lives. In short, the healthcare management should align their fees with quality of service that is demonstrated by long life expectancy even in long-term care establishments.

Question Three

Patients must receive antibiotics before surgery to boost their immune systems in preparation for surgery. It also loads their bodies with enough antibiotics to fight off any post-surgery infections that might come up.

The patient’s electronic health records updated with each visit might be useful in identifying all the information related to use of antibiotics (Phillips, 2003). Combined with the doctor’s progress reports, these documents would suffice in management of antibiotics before and after surgery.

When a hospital constantly scores low in this quality measure, there might be a problem with its patient account management system. Adopting an efficient patient account and fund management system alongside with healthcare management practices might reverse the problem.

References

Crook, D., & Brynildsen, E. (2017, January 25). U.S. Health Care: Highest Costs; Not Highest Results – WSJ. Retrieved April 9, 2017, from https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-health-care-highest-costs-not-highest-results-1485369534

Glouberman, S. (2014). Multimorbidity and our healthcare system. Healthcare Management Forum, 27(2), 52-55. doi:10.1016/j.hcmf.2014.06.004

O’Rourke, G. (2003). The New Face of Healthcare. Healthcare Management Forum, 16(4), 35-36. doi:10.1016/s0840-4704(10)60193-7

Phillips, A. (2003). Healthcare management dictionary. Abingdon, U.K: Radcliffe Medical Press.